The People Factor Podcast with Thomas Kohler

At McKinsey, Martina was responsible for hiring new consultants into their German and Austrian offices with a focus on diversity. She also spent time in Dubai improving the Middle East hiring processes and attracting top talent from UK and US universities into all EMEA offices. In her final two years at McKinsey, Martina co-managed all German/Austrian hiring efforts.

In 2018, she joined Personio as their Head of HR and later as Director of Talent. Under her leadership, the company grew from 50 to 1,400 employees in just 4 years. Martina understands the challenges that come with hyper-growth and is experienced in maintaining a high hiring bar.

Stefan Ries is a highly experienced Chief Human Resources Officer (CHRO) and Labor Relations Director. He served in these roles at SAP SE and was a member of the Executive Board with global responsibility for HR. With a background in executive roles at companies like Microsoft, Compaq, SAP, and Egon Zehnder International, Stefan is also passionate about sports, particularly German football, tennis, and European Handball. These days, he enjoys supporting HR tech startups as a business angel and is an external advisor for McKinsey on digital transformation projects.

At multiple companies, Sonita managed the entire employee experience cycle from employer branding, through talent acquisition and onboarding, to structured compensation and employee growth. With this, she owned P&L responsibility and operational excellence. Long before diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging were a trend, cross-cultural management and diverse teams have been her passion. She is a serial builder, whether it’s planning life, or growing a company, Sonita enjoys collaborating with others to create structure and plans that make sense for all involved as you can hear from the episode.

The People Factor Podcast, hosted by Thomas Kohler, co-founder of pplwise, explores the impact of talent, HR function, executives, leaders, and managers on business performance in various stages of an organization’s lifecycle. In the podcast, Thomas interviews leaders from startups, scale-ups, and corporates to gain insights into the importance of the people factor in driving business success. The podcast provides a platform for leaders to share their opinions, principles, and best practices and discuss current news. It also offers future leaders from different organizational stages a place to listen and get inspired, shaping their ideas for success